Article summary of Subjective well-being and national satisfaction: Findings from a worldwide survey by Morrison et al. - Chapter

What is this article about?

This is a research report of research examining the relationship between satisfaction in one's country, called national satisfaction, and subjective well-being utilizing data from a representative worldwide poll. The findings of this research invite new research directions and can inform quality-of-life therapies.

What method was used in the experiment?

The sample consisted of 132,516 individuals from 128 countries. The aim was to represent 95% of the world's adult population. Life satisfaction was assessed with Cantril's Self-Anchoring Striving Scale, also known as the Ladder of Life. National satisfaction was assessed using the same format as in the Ladder of Life, but country ratings were elicited in place of personal ratings. Participants were tested om different domains of satisfaction, such as satisfaction with their standard of living, personal health, and job. Respondents indicated whether planned to move from their area in the next 12 months. Several measures were used to examine the effects of individual life circumstances, such as household conveniences, household income and the gross domestic product per capita.

What were the results of the experiment? 

The results of the experiments were the following:

• National satisfaction was a strong positive predictor of life satisfaction across the world. This positive association was stronger among individuals with lower household income and fewer household conveniences and among individuals who were nonmobile.
• Life satisfaction was stronger among individuals with more conveniences. 
• The relation between national satisfaction and life satisfaction was strongest for participants living in countries with lower gross domestic product per capita. 
• The relation between life satisfaction and the domain satisfactions was strongest among participants in the richest nations.
• National satisfaction mattered more for life satisfaction in non-Western than in Western nations such as the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe.

So national satisfaction is a strong positive predictor of individual-level life satisfaction, and this relationship is moderated by household income, household conveniences, residential mobility, country gross domestic product per capita, and region (Western vs. non-Western). When individuals are impoverished or more bound to their region, national satisfaction is an even stronger predictor of life satisfaction. In contrast, reverse trends were found in analyses predicting life satisfaction from satisfaction in other domains such as health, standard of living and job. These patterns suggest that people are more likely to use proximate factors to judge life satisfaction where their conditions are helpful, or individualism is salient, but more likely to use perceived societal success to judge life satisfaction where life conditions are difficult, or collectivism predominates.

What are the implications of these results?

These results have implications for interventions designed to improve quality of life. This is usually based on the assumption that overall quality of life is the sum of satisfaction with important life domains. However, national satisfaction, which goes beyond community satisfaction, is missing. Adding might make models like the Quality of Life model by Frisch more effective.

This research also indicates that the feeling your country is doing well, may improve your sense of well-being. This can be used by governments and institutions. The strength of this relationship does depend on where you live, if you plan to keep living there, and what your standard of living is, so this needs to be kept in mind.